Rams' disaster in Australia raises the question: Should the team have followed the 49ers there earlier?

These were all used to describe the Los Angeles Rams all offseason, yet Week 1 proved why there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the NFL.The Rams faced their NFC West foe, the San Francisco 49ers, in the NFL’s first-ever game in Australia on Thursday night (or should we say, 10:35 a.m.local time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground) and were dominated in a 27-7 loss to begin the 2026 season.CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGEMatthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams warms up before the NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept.

11, 2026.(Getty Images)Let’s be clear: This is no slight to the 49ers, a team many believe will earn a playoff berth in a loaded division.

Rather, the noise and astronomical expectations for the Rams made this Week 1 performance a shocker to say the least.While the "overrated" talk has already begun for football fans on social media, the question must be asked: were the Rams right to fly to Melbourne less than two days before kickoff?The Rams arrived in Melbourne on Thursday morning local time, with 28 hours until kickoff to begin their season.On the other hand, the 49ers spent close to a week getting adjusted to Melbourne time, practicing multiple times and making sure the team was ready to play a Friday morning game.THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.

DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!The approaches were polar opposite, with the Rams arguing they still felt like they were on Los Angeles time, meaning kickoff to them felt like 5:35 p.m.PT on Thursday night."What gives me confidence is I’m not going to really make it a big deal," Rams coach Sean McVay said, via The Athletic, regarding the team’s plan to fly so close to gameday.

"It’s, ‘Hey, this is what the reality is.We’ve got a long way to go, but let’s be ready to rock when that three-hour window that we’re allotted comes.’"Both teams did their due diligence in ...